Sunday, October 4, 2009

Reflections of Our Town


Last evening my husband and I attended the final performance of Our Town, produced by Hamilton-Gibson Productions. It was a compelling performance based on the superior talent of the director and actors, creative staging, and most importantly for the reflections and conversations that it stimulated once the show was complete.

When I was a young girl and had the assignment to read Our Town for English class, I was not impressed. There were no meaningful personal reflections that stayed with me throughout my years lived since high school. Perhaps at that time, it was because I was more concerned with my popularity or some other less than spiritual focus.

This performance, however, fully resonated with what I now hold as my focus for living life.

The overall running theme in the show is that the people of Grover's Corners were not fully present as they lived out their lives. There were things that needed to be done every day and as their attention was firmly placed on just getting through the day, the vibrancy of life was lost. It was as though there was a film that covered up the natural brightness that being fully present to each moment could bring.

In the touching and powerful final moments of the play, where several characters spoke from their graves, their regret for having missed the opportunities of fully living life inspired the audience to not make the same mistake.

Regardless of where your town happens to be, it seems it is the challenge for us all, to pause and be present to not only the choices we're making, but to one another.

It is my focus to experience my life as full and well lived. This is not based on how much I get done, but on how much I experience and can relate with others along the way.


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